photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

A bike route sign on Massachusetts Street near the intersection of 21st Street. Lawrence city commissioners will consider approving a redesign that would add protected bike lines and shrink the vehicle lanes from four to three from 14th Street to 23rd Street.

To make biking more accessible in the community, the city of Lawrence is making changes to its Bikes Plan and creating opportunities for biking infrastructure and policies.

The Lawrence Bikes Plan – which was created in 2019 – is intended to be a roadmap for the city to create a safe, comfortable and accessible cycling environment. Now, the city is exploring ways to update the existing plan and provide an opportunity to better understand community experiences and expectations surrounding bicycle infrastructure and policies.

Since the plan was adopted, the city has created a variety of infrastructure improvements and developed multiple policies and programs that impact bicycling in Lawrence. The updates to the plan will be shaped through numerous discussions with staff, local leaders, national best practices and input from community members, according to a scope of work memo from the steering committee that will oversee the plan’s development.

In November 2024, the Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Board approved the composition of the steering committee, and on Wednesday the committee will present an evaluation of the current conditions, proposed strategies for creating a safer and more comfortable bicycle network and a vision for the future of biking in Lawrence.

photo by: Screenshot

The map shows
the routes tracked by various cyclists over the last year. This data can help show where cyclists are
riding most frequently in Lawrence and highlight where there might be gaps in the network or
underserved areas. The white routes are the most traveled, and the purple are the least.

Jessica Mortinger, transportation manager for the city, told the Journal-World in an email that it’s too early to say how the plan will evolve. However, according to the memo, the committee will be working to review the planned bikeway network with particular attention to sections identified to complete the Lawrence Loop – a series of connected trails that, when completed, will provide a continuous urban greenway over 22 miles long around the city of Lawrence.

In addition, the committee will identify bicycle parking needs for city owned properties; consider the need to address emerging forms of mobility such as pedal-assist electric bicycles, motorized scooters, skateboards and other mobility modes; and many other things.

The committee included annual travel data for Lawrence school district students who bike or use other modes of transportation outside of school buses, carpools or public transit. This count is part of the Safe Routes to School program, a partnership between Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health and the school district, encouraging students to walk, bike or roll to school.

The most recent county was in fall 2024, and it showed an average of 3% of students at Lawrence elementary and middle schools bike to school with Liberty Memorial Central Middle School having the highest percentage with up to 7.4% of students biking.

As the Journal-World reported, the city of Lawrence received state grants totaling $3.5 million from the state’s Transportation Alternatives Program, which is administered by the Kansas Department of Transportation and funded by the Federal Highway Administration. The funding is for improvements to the city’s Safe Routes to Schools program and multimodal improvements to Massachusetts Street from 14th to 23rd streets.

photo by: Screenshot

Since the Lawrence Bike Plan was adopted in 2019 there has been progress in
constructing bikeways. Those bikeways established since the last plans adoption are highlighted in
yellow.

Mortinger said in an email that the project to identify Safe Routes to School sidewalk gaps will be designed in 2025 and constructed in 2026. Additionally, staff are currently establishing the design of the improvements to Massachusetts Street, and construction is expected to begin in 2026.

Additionally, another analysis that was completed by the committee was the level of comfort Lawrence residents had with bikeways throughout the city. This assesses the bikeway network based on bicycle facility type, speed and volume. Typically, people of all ages and abilities are more comfortable on lower-speed and lower-volume streets and desire separation as speed and volume increase.

The existing plan provides a framework for selecting bikeway types with higher levels of comfort, Mortinger said via email. In street design, this impacts bikeway design by constructing bikeways with greater separation like protected and buffered bike lanes.

Over the next several months, there will be community engagement opportunities, including an open house in spring 2025 to review the bikeway network and design, another in summer 2025, a draft plan review in fall 2025, and final approval by the Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Board and the Lawrence City Commission expected in winter 2025.